Folded napkin



June 1937. F. L. BROEREN 2,082,731

FOLDED NAPKIN Filed Jan. 11, 1956 Patented June 1, 1937 UNITED STATES roman NAPKIN Frank L. Broeren, Menasha, Wis., assignor to Marathon Paper Mills Company, Rothschild, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application January 11, 1936, Serial No. 58,686

2 Claims.

This invention relates to folded sheets as napkins or the like, particularly to paper napkins which have been folded for the purpose of being stacked in a dispenser from which they are 3 withdrawn one at a time. One object of the invention is to improve the folding of such sheets so that they may be readily removed from dispensers provided with an opening in the front through which the forward napkin of the stack of napkins contained therein may be withdrawn.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel folded napkin which presents a folded edge extending transversely of the opening in the dispenser in which the napkins are stacked and which may be readily grasped by the fingers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pocket portion in the napkin whereby it may be readily grasped.

It is another object of this invention to provide folded napkins having a thick multi-ply body portion and a thinner and upper portion having a lesser number of plies.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a folded napkin having grasping portions at both the front and rear faces thereof.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparent from the disclosures in the drawing and specification.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and hereinafter more fully described.

On the drawing:

Figure 1 illustrates a dispenser having therein a stack of napkins embodying this invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of a sheet of material showing the dotted lines along which the same is folded in accordance with this invention.

Figure 3 is a perspective view drawn to a reduced scale illustrating the sheet folded on its first fold.

Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating the second fold.

Figure 5 is a perspective view illustrating the third fold.

Figure 6 is a perspective view illustrating the sheet as finally folded.

Figure 7 is a front view of the folded napkin in upright position.

Figure 8 is a view of the folded napkin illustrating its rear face.

Figure 9 is a side elevational view drawn to a reduced scale illustrating the manner of stacking the folded napkins.

As shown on the drawing:

The paper napkin selected to iilustrate the embodiment of the present invention is formed from a rectangular sheet I9. To illustrate the manner in which this napkin is folded, the sheet I!) is shown (Fig. 2) with transverse dotted parallel lines II and I2, and longitudinal parallel lines 13 and 14 marked thereon.

The sheet is first folded along the transverse line II as shown in Figure 3. It is then folded along the transverse line [2 as shown in Figure 4 forming an elongated folded sheet having a thick three-ply body portion l5 and a single ply portion Is. It will also be noted that the edges H and [2 of the folded sheet are closed.

In the particular structure illustrated in the drawing the fold lines H and i2 have such a relation that sections l and 2 are of equal width, while section 3 is of a greater width than sections l and 2.

The invention is however not restricted to the specific embodiment herein described. For example, the sheet it! may be folded in zig zag fashion on lines I! and I2 instead of being unfolded and a larger number of fold lines. than herein disclosed may be utilized if desired. It is also not essential that the width of the sections l and 2 be equal. The width of the final strip 3 however should be greater than the overall width of the multi-ply section l5 shown in Figure 4 so as to provide at least one ply I6 of greater width than the section IS.

The folded sheet illustrated in Figure 4 is then folded on the longitudinal line l4 so as to close up the end portion I! as shown in Figure 5. The folded sheet is then similarly folded on the longitudinal line l3 so as to close up the other end portion l8 as shown in Figure 6.

The longitudinal fold lines l3 and M are preferably spaced so as to produce sections 4, 5 and 6 of equal width. However for the purposes of this invention it is not essential that these sections be of equal width.

The folded napkin thus produced is illustrated in Figures 6, '7 and 8. As shown in Figure '7 the folded napkin consists of a thick multi-ply body portion and a thinner upper body portion having a lesser number of plies. The front of. the napkin is provided with a pocket portion l9 having a folded over upper edge 2|, the pocket being coextensive with the area of the thick body portion. The upper edge 2! of the pocket provides a grasping tab when the napkins are stacked in a dispenser 25 as shown in Figure 1. The dispenser has a dispensing slot consisting of an upper portion 26 having a curved lip which are free so that they may be readily grasped by the fingers when the napkin is placed in a dispenser with tab 22 facing the dispensing opening.

The folded napkin made according to this invention may thus be stacked in a dispenser with the front or the rear portion facing the dispenser opening if desired as the folded napkin is provided with grasping tabs on both faces there-" The napkins are preferably stacked in the dispenser so as to have the front face having the pocket portion [9 facing the dispensing opening as shown in Figure 1. In employing the type of dispenser as illustrated in Figure l, the upper portion 20 of the napkins is bowed backwardly by the inwardly protruding lip 26 thereby causing the upper edge 2| to protrude from the dispenser opening so that it can be readily grasped.

As illustrated in Figure 9 when the folded napkins are stacked in a dispenser the thick body portion I!) will be more firmly compressed than the upper body portion 20 which contains less plies. The body portion IQ of the napkins will thus be pressed forward constantly by the spring pressed pusher plate within the dispenser and thereby always present the upper edge 2| of the pocket portion I9 for grasping the foremost napkin with the fingers.

In removing a napkin a person grasps between the finger and thumb the upper edge 2| of the pocket, or the tab 22 if the rear face of the napkin is presented, and pulls outwardly on the napkin. Since the portions of the napkins above the fold II are more loosely arranged and less firmly pressed together than the portions of the napkins below the fold line II, the person withdrawing a napkin can easily force the upper portion of the stack of napkins backwardly so as to facilitate the entrance of the finger behind the edge 2| or 24 of the foremost napkin of the stack of napkins.

It is to be understood that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. A folded napkin to be stored and dispensed from a napkin dispenser, consisting of a rectalngular sheet of paper having two transverse fold lines defining three panels, one panel being a terminal panel, the intermediate panel adjacent the terminal panel being of the same width as the terminal panel, the third panel being of a greater width than either of said first two panels, the terminal panel being folded over the intermediate panel, the last two mentioned panels being then folded over again in the same direction as the terminal panel was folded to form an elongate plural ply strip, the ends of said elongate strip being then folded at right angles to the said transverse fold lines to form three panels of equal Width, the said ends being in overlapping and face contact relation.

2. A folded napkin to be stored and dispensed from a napkin dispenser, consisting of a rectangular sheet having a plurality of transverse fold lines defining a plurality of juxtaposed panels, including a first terminal panel, successive adjacent panels being at least of the same width as the said first terminal panel, and a final end panel being of a greater width than any of the successive adjacent panels, the first terminal panel being folded over the next adjacent panel, the said folded panels being then further folded in the same direction as the first terminal panel was folded and superimposed upon the next adjacent panel, the folded panels so formed being again successively folded in the same direction upon the next adjacent panels to form an elongate plural ply strip, the ends of said elongate strip being then folded at right angles to the said transverse fold lines to form panels of substantial width, the said ends being in overlapping and face contact relation.

FRANK L. BROEREN. 

